


The Princess and the Otaku, a.k.a. the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Morito Chisaki

by Rokun



Category: Country Girls (Japan Band), Hello! Project, Morning Musume.
Genre: Angst and Romance, Friendship, Idols, Multi, Musicians, campus life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:07:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22593769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rokun/pseuds/Rokun
Summary: A college girl from a wealthy family, living (more or less) independently for the first time, moves in to find her new roommates aren't quite what she expected. Will she be able to get along with them, and what surprises might be in store that could change her life forever?Rated M to be safe.
Kudos: 8





	1. Room 1310

The elevator dinged, doors sliding apart to reveal a small dark haired girl. Dark eyes peered out of a flushed face above an off-white wool coat tied to the early spring’s chill. An immaculate blue silk dress extended below the coat to her knees, paleness returning to her legs from the warmth of the building’s interior. The girl studied the sign across from the elevator, and when the doors began to close she jumped out, tugging a colorful suitcase quickly behind her, its fabric as immaculate as her clothing. 

She headed to the right, following the arrow on the sign beside  _ Rooms 6-10 _ , and to the end of the hall, which was pleasantly lit and decorated here and there with artwork and greenery. She glanced up at the door with bright black numbers announcing  **1310** , and pulled a card from her pocket. Pressing it against the reader beside the handle, she blinked as the reader’s LED turned red. Wondering if it just wasn’t traditional, she tried the handle, but it didn’t move. Frowning, she tapped the card again, but again the red light only teased her. 

She tried the handle again before rapping smartly at the door. “Hello?” she called. “Is anyone there?”

She heard muffled shouts from inside that she couldn’t make out, and after a moment the sound of faint steps approaching the door. The lock clicked, and the door opened to reveal a taller girl with short black hair and dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt with some animated creature on it. 

“Can I help you?” the girl asked in a low voice. 

“I… I’m Morito Chisaki. I’m moving in here today?”

The girl stared at her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Why did you knock? Don’t you have a key?”

“Ah,” Chisaki replied. “Well… my card didn’t work.”

The other girl laid a hand up on the doorframe, her body stretching out as if blocking the entrance. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

Chisaki blinked. “I… I’m not lying,” she replied. “Why would I lie?”

“There’s just two girls in this room,” the other replied casually. “You could be a stalker. Or a thief. Or a pervert.”

Chisaki’s cheeks flushed further, this time not from the cold. “A… a  _ thief _ !?” she began indignantly. “Why…”

“Ok maybe not a pervert, since you look like a girl. That still leaves stalker or thief.” She looked Chisaki up and down. “You’re small enough that you could probably sneak around easily. You even have a bag to store your loot in,” she finished, glancing at her suitcase.

Chisaki pulled her suitcase against her leg as if to protect it. “Listen here!” she said, “My name is Morito Chisaki, and I’m here because this is where I’m going to live!” She hadn’t mistaken the room number, right? She peered over at the door again. 1310. No, that wasn’t it...

“You got some ID, Miss  _ Morito Chisaki _ , if that’s who you really are?” The other girl now crossed her arms, letting the door close against her as she now leaned against the frame. 

Chisaki, eyebrows rising up her forehead, caught a glimpse of movement behind the girl before the door opened fully again. “ _ Seriously  _ Kaedii, take it easy,” a new arrival said from behind. This girl was smaller, about Chisaki’s size, though maybe a bit more filled out. Wavy brown hair fell just past her shoulders, and she wore a long fluffy red sweater, belted neatly above black tights and her slippers. “Hello!” she said, beaming at Chisaki, and gave a slight bow. “I’m Yokoyama Reina. I’m so glad to finally meet you!” And the girl stepped forward and hugged her tightly. 

Chisaki stared past the girl’s head, seeing the other slink off back within the apartment. Was everyone who lived here crazy?

When the girl finally pulled back, still beaming, Chisaki gathered herself and bowed politely. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Morito Chisaki.”

“Of course you are!” Yokoyama said, and grabbed her hand to drag her into the apartment, Chisaki frantically pulling her luggage behind. 

As the door swung shut, she suddenly heard music and some kind of metal clanging, and blinked around until she saw the other girl sitting on the sofa, a game controller in hand and staring at a large flat television. “That’s Kaedii,” Yokoyama said, waving her arm vaguely in the other’s direction. “Though I suppose you already met.” 

After staring at the taller girl, who kept staring fixedly at the screen while mashing her controller, Chisaki cocked her head and widened her eyes questioningly to Yokoyama. The other girl stared back a moment before glancing toward the sofa again. “Oh!” she said. “Kaga Kaede. No point worrying about her. She’s had her nose in that game all afternoon. I think she’s having trouble with the final boss of this level…” She adopted a thoughtful expression, before shaking her head and turning back to Chisaki. “Would you like to see your room?”

A few minutes later Chisaki had her suitcase on her bed, full-size with clean and soft white bedding with embroidered floral designs, and opened it to unpack her things. “A man was by earlier,” Yokoyama said, as she sat on the bed watching her. “He was very polite, and well-dressed. He brought in the trunk here, along with a new mattress, and made the bed.”

“Tanaka-kun,” Chisaki replied casually. At a cocked eyebrow from the other, she continued, “He’s my family’s driver.”

“Ahh!” Yokoyama said suddenly, eyes brightening. “I knew you were  _ ojou-sama _ ! I told Kaedii when he arrived. He didn’t say anything, and she just ignored me of course, but I still got excited!”

“Why?” Chisaki asked, frowning over at the other. 

“Well you see,” the girl said, “Kaedii never has money for anything. She either just has her nose in a game or manga, or works at her part-time job or studies all the time. I keep wanting to hang out with her and the others, but she never wants to do anything.”

“About her,” Chisaki said, tilting her head toward the living room while folding a skirt. “How old is she anyway?” She couldn’t quite put an age on the girl. At first glance she looked older and mature, but her dress and her fascination with that game made her seem like a kid.

“Oh she’s second year, just like me,” the girl replied. “What about you?”

“Second year,” Chisaki replied.

“Oooh!” Yokoyama cried, clapping her hands together. “This is perfect! We’re the same age, the same height - well, I guess I’m actually a bit taller! - and I’m sure you won’t mind going out with me in the evenings!”

“You don’t work part-time?” Chisaki asked. 

“Oh, no,” the girl replied. “No need for that.” She giggled. “I think papa would be horrified just at the idea of me working part time at some… cafe… or somewhere.” She stared off, looking lost in thought. Suddenly she blinked, turned to Chisaki and went on. “You don’t work part-time, do you?”

“No.”

“Yay!” the girl said, jumping up from the bed. “You’ll be my friend, right!? Kaedii’s good and all, and reliable, but…”

“You two are friends?” Chisaki asked, surprised.

Yokoyama blinked at her. “Well… yes,” she replied. “I met her at school last year, and we started hanging out occasionally, and then suddenly at the end of the year she asked if I’d like to be roommates with her. I was so touched - I haven’t had many proper friends you know, since I studied with private tutors through high school - that I just couldn’t say no. Plus I like to help her out when I can. It must be hard not having any money...”

Chisaki nodded along, moving from her now-unpacked suitcase to the trunk at the foot of the bed.

“...She didn’t say anything about needing a third roommate though,” the girl continued, “and I tell you, I was a bit upset at that, but then when I saw this room - oh, the view is great, isn’t it! You can see the Sky Tree from your window! - and now that I’ve met you, I think it was fate after all! You believe in fate, right?”

Trying to absorb all of the girl’s words, which kept getting faster as she went on, Chisaki pondered into her trunk before glancing over at a wall. “I guess so,” she replied. 

“Right!? You and I are going to be best friends, I just know it! I’ll have to call everyone up, and tomorrow...” She trailed off as Chisaki unfurled a poster and carried it over to the wall above a maplewood dresser, lifting it up to see how it would look. Three girls, younger than Chisaki, smiled out of the photo on the poster. Each was dressed in gaudy fashion, with the letters YA・KI・O standing out bold at the top. 

Suddenly noticing the silence in the room, Chisaki glanced back at Yokoyama, who was staring at her with her mouth slightly open. “Is something wrong?” Chisaki asked, letting the poster roll back up and dropping it on top of the dresser. She’d find some poster strips and put it up later. 

The girl kept staring a moment before blinking. “Oh,” she said. “No…” Then she looked around, seeing Chisaki’s clothes neatly folder on the bed and her trunk now open. “I’m sorry, I can tell you have a lot of unpacking to do in here. There’s still some holiday work I need to do, so I’ll go do that and talk to you later.” Then she swept from the room, leaving behind a mystified Chisaki.

Now she knew it for sure. She had just moved in with crazy people.


	2. Night and Day

Chisaki lay on her bed in the dim light of the lamp on her end table, staring up at the ceiling. She’d managed to unpack everything and put it away, and even put up all her idol posters before it got too late. Yokoyama and Kaga had kept to themselves for the rest of the day, and a couple hours ago the apartment had gone quiet. A peek out her door revealed an empty living room, with the doors to the other bedrooms closed. She didn’t think anyone had left the apartment, but they must be busy by themselves. 

Didn’t Yokoyama say she had holiday work to finish? The girl was apparently a procrastinator, with new classes for the year starting tomorrow. As for her own holiday work… 

Her parents were very traditional. Her father was in government, as was his father before him. Her mother graduated from Kyoto University, which was how they met, so much was expected from the children of such a family of influence. Since the time she became aware she’d been thankful to have an older sister, who was being groomed to continue the family tradition of government work. That left her with slightly less expectations, only to graduate from a top university and land a worthy husband to produce high-class children and continue on the tradition…

To that effect, her parents had entered her into the School of Humanities to study literature, so she could become “cultured” and attractive to a potential high-end spouse. She played the dutiful daughter her freshman year, but in second term secretly began to take courses related to her real passion: music.

She lowered her eyes from the ceiling to gaze around at her posters. Her parents knew of her interest in idols of course, but they brushed it off as a “childish phase”. It wasn’t seemly for someone of her pedigree to be involved with something so… crude… but her dream was to be an idol producer. 

The only problem was, she really knew nothing about idols except from her secret fandom, not being allowed to actually go see them live. It frustrated her to no end, because she knew with her family’s influence, she could likely meet any celebrity she wished, but she needed her family’s approval for that, and that… Well, she supposed any type of music producer would do.

When she started her second year at university, her parents convinced she was continuing to be a good daughter, she switched her major from literature to music. Therefore she didn’t have any holiday work since she hadn’t actually been to any classes related to the ones she’d be starting tomorrow. Butterflies suddenly stirred in her stomach.  _ Tomorrow _ . She smiled. She’d finally be able to do what she loved! She’d still get a degree and be able to meet a good husband… not that she really cared about that sort of thing.

She heard a door open and close outside her room, and sat up quickly. Creeping to the door, she opened it carefully to look out into the dark living area. Kaga opened the fridge, and illuminated momentarily by the light from it, Chisaki noticed she was fully clothed. The girl grabbed a drink bottle before letting the fridge close, and headed toward the front door. Chisaki watched her switch her slippers for shoes, and quietly open the door and leave the apartment.

Chisaki glanced back at her clock, which read 22:16, and then once again toward the front door before closing her own and walking thoughtfully back to bed. Where was the girl going at this time of night? She laid back, feeling comfortable as she had changed into her nightgown a little while ago. It didn’t look like the bottle she took was beer, and if she was going drinking why would she take the drink with her anyway? 

Her mind drifted. She had a vision of the stolid girl going out late at night to meet with an illicit lover, and felt herself giggle. The thought seemed ridiculous, but she reminded herself she knew very little yet about her. Maybe she was going to an internet cafe so as not to bother her roommates. That would seem to make a lot more sense. Wait, Yokoyama had mentioned she worked part-time. Could that maybe…?

…

Her alarm ringing in her ear, Chisaki groaned and turned toward it flashing 8:00 before smashing a fist down on the snooze. She stared up at the ceiling a moment, her surroundings vivid in the light streaming in through her window, before pulling herself out of bed. 

After dressing and leaving her room, she found Kaga and Yokoyama eating breakfast in the kitchen. Her gaze lingered on Kaga, who although her eyes drooped, had apparently come home at some point during the night, and Yokoyama popped up to beam at her.

“Chii-chan!” she said, and Chisaki moved her stare to her. The girl froze, her eyes becoming uncertain. “I’m sorry. Is it okay for me to call you that? I mean, since we’re going to be best friends and all…” she said with a pout as she looked down at her feet. Kaga sniggered under her breath. 

“...It’s fine,” Chisaki said, glancing between the two girls. Kaga’s eyes never moved from her breakfast.

“I cooked breakfast for us!” Yokoyama said, suddenly cheery again, and danced over to grab Chisaki’s arm. She pulled her over and sat her down, bowls of food with plastic over them set in front of her. “I didn’t know when you’d be up, so I prepared your serving and set it to preserve.”

“It’s fine,” Chisaki said, pulling cautiously at the plastic over one of the bowls. 

“I may not look it, but I have confidence in my cooking!” Yokoyama said, preening. “Just ask Kaedii!” Chisaki glanced up at the other girl who raised her chopsticks in agreement. 

“We have to leave for campus soon…” Yokoyama said slowly.

“Me too,” Chisaki replied. “My first class is at 9:30.”

“Ours too!” Yokoyama replied. Chisaki gave a crooked smile. “Yay! We can go together!!” The smile became a bit more crooked.

The meal, however, turned out to be quite delicious.

…

“You know, Chii-chan…” Yokoyama said as the three girls walked along the street, the boisterous girl swaying to and fro, Kaga walking upright with her bag on her shoulder as if she was the coolest person in the world… if you ignored her sweats. Did the girl wear those all the time? Chisaki didn’t think that’s what she wore when she’d left the apartment late last night… though the whole memory was hazy.

“I don’t even know what your major is! Kaedii here is in engineering, while I’m studying history. Oh, I’m also in dance and soccer clubs.” She leaned in to add in a whisper, “But I’m taking more dance than history classes. I already know almost everything I need to in history, so I think I’ll add another degree. Just don’t tell my parents.”

“I can understand that,” Chisaki said idly, glancing up through her eyelashes at Kaga, who loped steadily forward with eyes straight ahead.  _ Engineering, huh?  _ Unexpected for a girl, though she supposed with her situation, and then with all the gaming… She made a mental edit. Not strange at all. It made perfect sense. She came back to the moment, and the girl frolicking beside her. “Soccer, huh? That’s cool. I suck at sports. Only one I really like is basketball, and…” She held her hand over her head. “I suppose soccer would have made more sense.”

Yokoyama giggled. “Well at least we have some cute basketball players here. I’ll show you sometime.”

Chisaki suddenly began studying a bird flying above. She was well aware of that fact. That said, she preferred to just observe from afar. Very far.

“Hey…” Yokoyama said, poking her arm. “You never told me what you study.”

Chisaki kept staring idly for a moment. “Music,” she said simply, then jumped at the squeal beside her. She stared back at the girl, eyes wide. “What…?”

“That’s SO COOL!!” Yokoyama said, beaming at her again. “Do you take any dance classes? Maybe we share some!” 

“Um, I… I think…” Chisaki responded, becoming at a loss for words. She didn’t know how much more of this she could handle.


	3. Drink With Me

It turned out they definitely did share some classes. At first Chisaki wondered if she would even get through her first day of the year, and began to second-guess her decision to change her major considering perhaps this was punishment for defying her parents. However, as the week went on she began to get used to the girl’s antics, and the more she learned about her she felt her heart warm in compassion and perhaps pity at her moment in life which she couldn’t help but understand and relate to herself.

The eventual result of this was the two of them sitting at the bar of a nearby cocktail lounge on the Thursday night of their first week of classes. Yokoyan, as she’d come to call the girl, sat on the stool beside her with her legs crossed, swirling the drink she held in her hand slowly as she stared at nothing. Chisaki for her part felt her eyes following specks of dust that flew as the bartender went about his work. On the way here the girls had bought new dresses for the night, Yokoyan in red velvet with a puffy white collar, and Chisaki in black that cascaded down past her knees.

Yokoyan’s phone, lying on the bar, lit up, the characters for “MOM” coming up on the screen, and the girl sighed before picking it up. “Hi mom,” she said wearily. 

Chisaki watched their conversation. The girl seemed to receive a similar call most every day. It made her glad that her parents were either too busy or too apathetic to call her often, though she figured one would come this weekend checking up on how her first week was. 

“Yes, I’m with Chii,” the girl said placidly. “We’re just getting ready to see a symphony tonight.” “Yes… Yes… She’s just wonderful. I’m glad you approve.” Chisaki giggled, and the girl gave her a sarcastic look. “No, I won’t just hang out with her all the time and neglect trying to meet guys.” “Yes, the symphony should be a great opportunity for that.” “Ok mom, have a good night. Byebye.”

“Oh my gaaawwd,” the girl groaned, quaffing the rest of her cocktail before planting her face on the counter. “Kill me now,” she murmured against the wood. Chisaki watched with a smile. Yokoyan didn’t talk about her parents too much, except to complain about them, but it appeared they were both university professors. Not here, thankfully. She thought that might really kill the girl. Because of this they were always bugging her to keep working on her academics, and experience “culture”... in other words, things like symphonies. And of course to find a proper husband.

“Excuse me,” said a male voice, and Chisaki glanced up at two men standing near the counter. They were older, maybe even in their thirties, and in sharp suits. Businessmen, Chisaki mused, and by the look of those suits rather successful. “I happened to overhear your friend talk about meeting guys,” one of them said with a smile. “Since we happened to be here, I thought we could help her with that.” Chisaki eyed them, tapping her fingertip on her nearly empty glass. “Can we buy you a drink?”

Yokoyan, without lifting her head from the counter, raised her empty glass. 

The two girls chatted politely with the men for a while over the free drinks, though Chisaki only half paid attention. Businessmen like that usually only liked to brag about themselves and their businesses, whatever they were, and these were no different. Once she saw the drinks were empty, and the conversation was slowing down, Chisaki gazed levelly at the men before letting her eyes drift over to Yokoyan. 

“Well Yokoyan, we should probably get going soon.” The guys’ faces turned to disappointment. “It’s a school night,” she told them apologetically, and turned back to the other girl. “Don’t forget your seifuku,” she said, gesturing to the bag at her feet under the school.

Suddenly the disappointment vanished from the mens’ faces, and clearing their throats, they both murmured hasty goodnights before quickly appearing not in a hurry to be elsewhere. 

“You’re evil you know,” Yokoyan said, looking somewhat drunkenly over at her. “Also, I’m not that young!” she said, slapping the counter. 

“You just turned nineteen,” Chisaki said patiently. “There are plenty of high school girls that age.”

“It’s not my fault I graduated early,” the girl grumbled. 

“You aced the entrance exam when you were sixteen.”

“I am drinking… alcohol…! Here…!” she slurred, slapping her chest. “I’m an adult!”

“Uh huh,” Chisaki said, and stood to take the girls arm, making sure her own legs kept steady. She smiled at the bartender and pointed to the girl she held before starting to walk her toward the door. It was convenient not to have to worry about things like tabs and payments on delivery.

A short while later the two girls stumbled into their apartment. Kaga looked up from the manga she was reading while slouching in the sofa, and widened her eyes before getting up quickly. She dropped the book to the coffee table and came to help Chisaki with their roommate. 

“How much did she drink?” she asked anxiously. 

“Um…” Chisaki said. “A few glasses I guess?”

Kaga stopped after they’d carried her halfway to her bedroom. “...How much did you drink?” Chisaki turned away and tried to get them moving again. After a moment Kaga began moving too, and they managed to get the younger girl to her bed. 

A few minutes later Kaga and Chisaki sat across from each other at their dining table, each stirring tea leaves idly into a glass of hot water. Chisaki felt awkward, realizing this was the first time the two of them had actually been alone like this. Kaga had actually changed out of her sweats into pants, though kept on a plain T-shirt. She now knew this as the type of outfit she normally wore when she went out at night. 

“I didn’t know you were going out drinking,” Kaga said finally in a low voice.

Chisaki glanced up through her eyelashes at her. “I’m sorry, I guess we should have asked you to come along? She invited me during dance club at campus this evening, and we just bought some dresses and headed right there…”

The other girl’s only response was lifted eyebrows, and another long silence passed.

“You seem to hold your alcohol well.”

“Honestly, I think it’s more that she’s so weak,” Chisaki replied with a grin. 

Kaga looked up at her with a serious expression. “Yes, she is.” The two stared at each other for a moment. “She’s barely nineteen, you know.”

“I know,” Chisaki said, nodding slowly. 

“You two seem to be getting close since you moved in.”

“Well, we’re  _ best friends _ ,” Chisaki replied with a smirk.

“Don’t say that lightly,” Kaga said, still looking at her. Chisaki’s grin faded, and the girl looked down again. “She’s an annoying girl at times, but she has a big heart,” the girl continued. “I hope you can be a best friend for her.” She glanced to the side. “I can’t…” she whispered.

Chisaki gazed at the girl curiously, the spoon in her tea forgotten. “You’ve already been friends for a while, haven’t you?” she asked. 

“Your tea’s getting cold,” Kaga replied, and rose from her chair. She quickly downed her own tea, and went to the fridge to grab a bottle.

“Where do you go every night?” Chisaki asked. The girl paused and let the fridge door close, before walking past her. Chisaki just kept staring ahead as she heard the girl pull her shoes on and head out the door. 

After a moment she took a big swig of her tea before setting it down hard, and got up quickly. She ran to grab her coat from her room, and headed out the door as well. 

Thankful to see the taller girl just rounding a corner as she made it outside, she ran slowly after her until she could keep her in sight, and then followed in the shadows. They walked several blocks, until she saw the girl duck into a brightly lit 24-hour convenience store. She watched for a few minutes, but after the girl didn’t come out she came carefully closer. Eventually she managed to get a glimpse inside, and her eyes widened when she saw her roommate behind the counter with the shop’s apron on, reading a book. 

There were surprisingly a steady, if small, stream of customers at this time, and Chisaki saw the girl keep an eye on them while reading her book and check them out when they were ready. After a half hour or so of this, and recognizing the stiffness and fatigue in her legs, she turned back toward the apartment building. 

So the girl worked a part-time job overnight at a convenience store. Why was she being so secretive about that? It was nothing to be ashamed of. It’s true neither her nor Yokoyan worked part-time, or needed to… but she knew the girl was on scholarship to the university. To her that was actually all the more impressive, that she could earn the scholarship. She certainly couldn’t. Well, Yokoyan surely could. 

When she reached their building she saw a young high school girl waiting for the elevator, a hoodie over her uniform, and joined her. The girl glanced in her direction, eyes widening behind her large-lens glasses for a moment before she turned back forward. Chisaki’s own stare lingered. Why did the girl seem familiar to her? She let the girl select her floor first, and started reaching her own hand out as the girl pressed 13. When she saw that the progress of her own hand stopped, and she let it fall to the side. The girl looked up at her questioningly, and she shrugged.

The elevator rose, the two girls each occasionally glancing surreptitiously at each other. When it reached floor 13 the door opened, and the girl gestured Chisaki to leave ahead of her. She bowed her thanks, and turned down the hall. When she reached her door and took her card from her pocket, she glanced back to see the girl staring at her from a few steps behind, clutching her bag tightly in front of her.

“...Can I help you?” Chisaki asked as the door clicked. The girl’s eyes just widened again, and she turned and ran back to the elevator, mashing at the button. It apparently hadn’t left yet since it opened immediately, and she disappeared from sight.

Chisaki stared back, her hand on the door handle. There really were the strangest people around here. Shrugging again, she entered the apartment and flipped on the light. She checked on Yokoyan, who was still passed out in an awkward-looking position on her bed, and headed to her own room. She glanced around at her posters after feeling a strange urge to do so, but couldn’t figure out why, and shrugged before getting ready for bed herself.


	4. Raid of the JK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's been reading along so far! Until this point it's been mostly setup, and that'll continue, but I think things will start to get more interesting very quickly, too. Enjoy!

When Chisaki woke the next morning she found Kaga already up - did the girl ever sleep? - and bowls of porridge set out on the table. “I made this for Reina-chan, but thought you might like some too,” she said, and Chisaki thanked her and helped herself. It was actually quite good. 

A little while later their roommate stumbled out of her room, still in her dress from the night before which was quite wrinkled, and her hair all over the place also. “Porridge?” Chisaki asked with a smile, and the girl glared at her. 

Since Yokoyan had quite a bit to prepare before heading to campus, Chisaki and Kaga left before her. Chisaki figured she must have eventually made it to classes, but it turned out to be a blessedly quiet and calm day without the younger girl around. When she arrived back home late in the afternoon she found Kaga home but apparently asleep in her room, answering one of her questions from the morning, and no sign yet of the other girl. Thinking to continue the day’s blessed quietness, she settled at her desk to do some homework. She had a lot of music theory to catch up on, and it was more challenging than she expected it to be. 

A while after dark she heard a brisk knock from the front door, and after stretching in her seat, got up to see what was up. It surely wasn’t Yokoyan since there was no reason she’d knock, so she wondered who it might be. Recalling the high school girl from last night as she unlocked the door, she opened it to find… well, they were high school girls, but not the one she remembered.

_ “Go~kigen yo~!”  _ three girls chanted musically, swaying along with the words and giving her bright smiles. 

Chii’s eyes widened. “Ozeko!” she said in surprise, and was attacked for a hug by the girl she named.

“We wanted to celebrate your new apartment, and your long-last emancipation!” one of the other girls, one Yanagawa Nanami, said cheerfully. The long-haired girl was in her seifuku like the others, and held hands with the third girl, a very short high school senior like the rest of them named Funaki Musubu. She’d known all three girls since elementary school, and was best friends with Ozeko - Ozeki Mai - despite them being two years younger.

“Where are your roommates?” Funaki asked, peering around her and Ozeko. “I want to see if they’re good enough to live with you.”

“Yes!” Yanamin, the girls’ nickname for Yanagawa, chimed in. “If we don’t approve of them, I’m afraid they will have to move out.”

“I’m the one who just took the available room here…” Chisaki protested.

Yanamin waved her hand dismissively, brushing past her while dragging Funaki behind. “Makes no matter,” she said. “Our princess’s residence is her abode and hers alone. Any other peasants are just permitted to coexist… if worthy.”

Chisaki sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. The three girls - especially Yanamin - always called her their princess, and claimed themselves as her handmaidens, due to her seniority and her family’s status. It’s not like they were anything but debutantes either…

Yanamin was a socialite, her family from old money and claiming distant relation to the imperial line, and she would never have to work a day in her life unless she wanted to. She was a genius though, and had actually begun doing research with Tokyo University faculty despite committing to graduate on time with the rest of her high school class. The girl had a bit of a warped perception of school, though, and really life in general. Chisaki didn’t think she’d actually formally go to college, and suspected the university had already offered her entrance into a PhD program where she’d just work on research at her whim, but the girl seemed disinterested in talking about such things so no one really knew what she was actually doing.

Funaki was a bit of a clown, her dad a successful comedian from Kansai. Her grades weren’t great, and it didn’t look like she’d go to college. Instead she planned to join an agency to train to be a television personality. Chisaki envied her, since unlike her she had regular access to musicians and idols through her dad and her own ambitions, but her parents had never let her join the girl to meet any. Part of her own plans were for that to change in the future.

Then there was Ozeko, her childhood friend who still beamed up at her as she continued to hold her hands. She was the daughter of a famous baseball player, and quite a daddy’s girl. It got to the point of being rather creepy at times, especially in contrast to Chisaki’s own relationship to her father, but it was all part of the girl’s charm. She was also just a tad narcissistic. 

“Your roommates aren’t cuter than me, are they?” the girl asked, her smile turning into a grin. “You’re not allowed to be around girls cuter than me, after all.”

“Then why are YanaFuna here?” Chisaki replied with her own grin, referring to the combo name for the other two girls.

“Hey…!” Ozeko protested, but Chisaki pulled away from her and jumped aside with a giggle. She was very happy to see them, despite the surprise of their visit tonight.

“It’s too quiet here,” Yanamin said from the middle of the room. “It’s not right of them to leave our princess alone at night.”

“Ooh, nice TV!” Funaki said excitedly, and pulled away from the other girl to plop onto the sofa. She found a remote and turned on the TV, but blinked when the screen flared with a paused game.

“The gamer there is asleep,” Chisaki said with a smirk. “The other hasn’t come home yet.”

“Gamer?” Ozeko said, walking over to peer at the TV. She enjoyed games herself. In fact, Chisaki thought various games were her life. Video games, sports…

“Don’t tell me your roommate is an otaku?” Yanamin asked, frowning at a small untidy stack of manga on the coffee table. She picked up one and leafed idly through it. The girl was one to talk… she read more manga than anyone Chisaki knew. Suddenly she gasped. “This isn’t shojo manga… is your roommate a boy!?”

Funaki popped up at that, wide-eyed, and ran to one of the bedrooms. The one she went to was actually Yokoyan’s, which she found empty, but then she ran to Kaga’s, and before Chisaki could catch her opened up the door and flipped on the light. 

“IT IS!” the girl yelled, pointing into the room in shock. Chisaki peered frantically into the room past the one girl she knew who was actually shorter than her. Kaga jolted up in her bed and squinted through the light at the commotion in her doorway. Her short hair was disheveled from sleep above her usual t-shirt. Funaki squawked again and clung to Chisaki as if for protection. 

Yanamin now came up behind them. “Wow, you work quickly,” she said, also staring toward the girl in her bed. “Alone together in an apartment with a boy. I guess your mother will be pleased.”

Chisaki felt a movement next to her, as Ozeko joined them to fill the doorway. “You guys, I’m not sure that’s…”

“Who the hell are all of you?” Kaga asked in a low irritated voice, which didn’t particularly help the situation.

“Tell us!” Funaki demanded. “What is your intention with our princess!”

“Your what?” Kaga asked, and Chisaki kneed the shorter girl in her thigh. 

“Ow…”

“We must determine whether you are suitable for our Chisaki-chan,” Yanamin said, sweeping into the room. She glanced around, noting anime figures set out on the surfaces and a couple posters on the wall. Chisaki was a bit curious also, not yet having actually looked into the girl’s room. “I must tell you, I am not very impressed thus far.”

She walked right up to Kaga’s bed, and rapped her on the head, the older girl staring up at her in horror. Despite herself, Chisaki nearly coughed a laugh. When Yanamin began to look her up and down, Kaga quickly drew her blanket up to her neck. “What is your name?” the petite girl in seifuku standing over her demanded. Kaga just stared up at her. 

Chisaki audibly cleared her throat. “That would be Kaga Kaede,” she said with a slight grin. She decided to play along and see where this went. 

“Kaede-kun…” Yanamin said thoughtfully. “That’s a bit girly, but I guess it’ll do.” Her voluminous eyebrows furrowed. “And Kaga… your family affiliated with Kaga Onsen somehow?”

The other girl continued to stare at her, also slowly drawing back as if still a bit frightened.

Suddenly the phone on Kaga’s bedside table started ringing, and the girl jumped. Yanamin glanced down and began to reach for it, but Kaga quickly grabbed it first and brought it to her ear. 

“Hello?” the girl said, eyes still flickering around to the intruders in her room, before suddenly looking distracted. “Yes I’m awake. I answered the phone, didn’t I?” “This isn’t a good time,” she hissed at the device, peering cautiously up at the rest of them. “I’ll be heading out later… No, no don’t come by!!”

Suddenly Yanamin grabbed the phone out of her hand and raised it to her own ear. Kaga yelped and jumped back, pulling the blanket up again. “Hello?!” the schoolgirl demanded. “Who is this? Hello??” She looked at the phone before dropping it onto the bed. “Who was that? Are you two-timing our princess?” Kaga cowered below her.

“All right, all right,” Chisaki said, extricating herself from Funaki and moving quickly to the bed to pull Yanamin back. “Leave the poor girl alone.”

Yanamin blinked up at her. Ozeko strolled up beside them now too, smirking herself. “I was about to say…” she said. “I don’t think that’s a boy.”

“N… nice to meet you,” Kaga said in her normal voice, more visibly girlish but still lower pitched. “I’m Kaga Kaede,” she finished with a slight bow of her head. Funaki now joining them, she and Yanamin frowned at her. 

“You’re a girl?” Funaki asked, looking around the room suspiciously. 

“Yes I am!” the other said, seeming to gather herself enough to appear offended. “And why are you in my room!?”

“Are you an otaku?” Yanamin asked, her eyes still narrowed suspiciously.

“I’m so sorry,” Chisaki said hastily, pulling at the two girls to try and drag them to the door, Ozeko snickering as she followed. “These are my friends. They don’t exactly know how to be civilized.”

A short time later found the five girls sitting around the dining table, Kaga drinking tea and trying to ignore the suspicious looks from the others. “I really am sorry for waking you up,” Chisaki said, and Ozeko gave her a curious look which made her blush for some reason. 

“It’s ok,” the girl said offhandedly. “It was about time for me to get up anyway.”

Chisaki glanced at her phone which said 18:23. “You work tonight? You wouldn’t leave for a while yet would you?”

“Work?” Yanamin asked, though Chisaki’s eyes widened as her roommate stared at her. 

“She… works overnight at a part-time job…” Chisaki mumbled, looking away.

“Why?” asked Funaki, who was absently playing with her phone.

Kaga suddenly stood up, making Chisaki jump, and seemed about to say something before another knock came at the door. This one though was very tentative compared to Chisaki’s friends’ earlier. Kaga closed her mouth which had frozen open, and sauntered over to the door. She unlocked it slowly and cracked it open to peer out. Sighing, she opened it the rest of the way to reveal three more girls in seifuku, though they each also wore a hoodie. 

Chisaki’s eyes widened when she saw the girl in glasses from last night, and noticed that the three girls were also trying to look around Kaga into the apartment. The one Chisaki knew pointed at her, and the three whispered excitedly to each other. 

“Who are they?” Ozeko asked, trying to get a look at them too.

“I told you not to come over,” Kaga said in a low voice, appearing to almost try to block the door again. 

“Is that your new roommate?” one of the girls asked. The girl’s hood fell back a bit from her head, and Chisaki noticed she had a cute, small face, and also looked quite young. Her brow also furrowed in thought. This girl looked familiar for some reason, too.

She heard a gasp from behind her. “She has company tonight,” Kaga said. “It’s already pretty full in here.”

“Are they still in high school too?” the third girl asked, now looking curiously at Chisaki’s friends. Chisaki felt a tug at her blouse, but brushed it off. “We should say hi!”

The girl with glasses shrugged at Kaga, and pushed past her into the apartment. Kaga looked like she wanted to protest, but reluctantly let them in. As the girl came closer, the whole time peering at Chisaki through her glasses, Chisaki rose to bow to them.

“Nice to meet you,” Chisaki said. “I’m Morito Chisaki.” 

Rather than responding, the three girls stopped a few steps away and glanced seemingly anxiously at each other. Chisaki heard her friends stand up as well, and shuffle as they bowed. 

“I’m Chii-chan’s best friend, Ozeki Mai.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Yanagawa Nanami.”

“I… I’m Funaki Musubu…”

Chisaki glanced over at the shorter girl, who gave her a nervous look, and rose from her bow. The three girls in front of her slowly pulled their hoods back, and Chisaki’s eyebrows almost climbed into her hair. 

“Nice to meet you!” the one with glasses said, but she reached up to pull them off. “I’m Kitagawa Rio!”

When the others also introduced themselves as Okamura Homare - the small-faced one - and Yamazaki Mei - the third, who had her hair in long pigtails - Chisaki gave a shriek and turned to bury her face in Ozeko’s shoulder. Ozeko tensed before patting her friend softly on her arm. 

“Um… sorry about that,” Ozeko said apologetically. “You see, Chii here…”

“She’s kind of a fan,” Funaki finished, patting Chisaki’s other arm. “Hey, can you do your…?” the girl asked, and Chisaki peeked back toward them. 

The three girls were grinning self-consciously, but turned to each other. “We are…” Okamura began, glancing at the other two.

“YA! Brighter than the evening star!” Yamazaki said loudly.

“KI! Bigger than all the trees in the forest!” Kitagawa continued.

“O!!” said Okamura. “Oh yay yay!!”

“YA-KI-O!” The three all said as one with a flourish.

“Please support us!!”

Chisaki whimpered into Ozeko’s shoulder, and heard Kaga groan across the room.

After the initial shock settled, all eight girls now sat around the TV since the dining table no longer sufficed, Chisaki and Kaga on the sofa and the rest on the floor since they insisted their seniors take the cushions. Chisaki anxiously sipped at a cup of tea as her eyes flickered among the girls at least four years her junior. Except they weren’t normal girls. They were idols. Idols sitting in her living room. 

_ Come on Chisaki,  _ she told herself anxiously.  _ You don’t lose yourself like this. And you told yourself you wouldn’t do it if you ever met idols! _

“So…” Yanagawa said, her attitude seeming completely changed after welcoming the new arrivals. “You’re her sister?”

“Yep,” Kitagawa said, beaming up at the sofa. “Lady Kaga is the best big sister in the world!” Chisaki realized she wasn’t the only one trying to bury her face in a teacup. 

“Lady Kaga…?” Ozeko asked.

The three idols giggled. “It’s what we call her,” Yamazaki said. “Since she’s so cool and regal!”

Chisaki choked on her tea, and coughed into her cup. After recovering she glanced up at Kaga, who was giving her a very level look above her own cup.

“But you don’t have the same name,” Yanagawa said with a puzzled expression.

“They’re half-sisters,” Okamura explained.

“That’s pretty normal in… showbiz families,” Funaki interjected, before looking around self-consciously.

“Your family’s in showbiz??” Ozeko asked Kaga.

The girl opened her mouth, but Kitagawa replied, giggling. “Oh no. Our dad just has a little shop in Kanagawa.” Chisaki peered cautiously at her friends. “Lady Kaga’s mom died when she was little, and her dad married my mother a couple years later.”

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Ozeko said, bowing her head slightly to Kaga.

“Don’t worry about it,” the girl grunted. “I was too little to remember anyway. Rio’s mother has always been mom to me.”

“But…” Yanamin began, still looking confused. “I still don’t get it.” She nodded toward Kitagawa. “You’re cute, a famous idol. And she’s…” She frowned at Kaga.

The three idols giggled. 

“Don’t remind me,” Kaga said darkly. “I have to get ready,” she said, and suddenly got to her feet.

“But it’s like 7PM,” Chisaki said, and the other girls looked questioningly at her, returning her to her teacup.

“I’m going early tonight,” the girl replied gruffly, though her eyes looked shifty. She took a few steps toward her room and stopped, turning her head back. “You all enjoy yourselves. Feel free to sleep in my room,” she told her sister. “It’s getting late.”

“It’s okay,” Kitagawa said, rising to her feet herself. Her two colleagues rose with her. “We actually have practice tonight.”

Chisaki’s heart leapt in her chest as she looked up at them. Idols going to practice. What she wouldn’t give…

“KitaRio just dragged us here tonight to see your cute new roommate,” Okamura said, grinning at her fellow idol. “I’ll admit, it’s a pretty good description. Though she’s of course not as cute as me,” she said with a wink and a finger to her cheek.

“Hey!” Ozeko said as both Chisaki’s and Kitagawa’s cheeks flushed. “I’m the cutest one here!” The other girls stared at her, and everyone started giggling. 

“We’ll drop by again!” Kitagawa said a few minutes later, as the three idols stood at the door, bowing. Her cheeks were still flushed, as she looked up shyly through her eyelashes at Chisaki.

“We’re pretty busy this weekend, though,” Okamura said apologetically.

“Of course you are,” Funaki said, beaming back. Chisaki envied how comfortable she was around the idols, and hated her parents again for never letting her friend take her to meet celebrities. 

“We’ll get you tickets to one of our concerts sometime, too!” Yamazaki said cheerfully. Chisaki barely stopped an enamoured sigh. The girl, the youngest of the group, was so adorable. She seemed to always be smiling in her videos, and full of energy, and she was somehow amazed that in person her personality only seemed brighter. 

Okamura was the center, the front girl of the group. She had a charisma and not so subtle narcissism to her that won over many fans. That narcissism wasn’t particularly unwarranted though, as in person Chisaki had to admit she was one of the cutest girls she’d ever seen. 

Kitagawa was the melancholy contrast in the group, and the rapper when needed in their songs. It’s not that she wasn’t cute of course - far from it - but she exuded a different flavor, one that wasn’t actually too different from the impression she had of her sister. Now that she knew, it somehow made perfect sense.

“I look forward to it,” Chisaki managed, smiling at the girls. 

“All right, all right,” Kaga said. The girl was also apparently serious about heading to work early, as she had already changed and was now unlocking the door. She glanced back at Chisaki and her friends. “Don’t destroy the place while I’m gone,” she said, her eyes drifting toward the TV where Chisaki supposed her game was still paused.

She opened the door only to find a figure standing outside it, keycard raised in her hand as she had been about to scan it. Kaga groaned again. Chisaki’s friends peered out at the girl in the hall. 

“Is my apartment party central now or something?” Kaga grumbled as she pushed past the startled girl into the hall.

“Who’s that?” Ozeko whispered into Chisaki’s ear.

  
Chisaki smiled as she and the girl in the hall gazed at each other. “Girls, say hi to Yokoyama Reina. My other roommate and new  _ best friend _ .”


End file.
